The 311th Military Intelligence Battalion has two distinct modern chapters: service as the 101st Airborne Division's intelligence battalion and later service in Japan with the 500th Military Intelligence Brigade–Theater. Its return under the 311th designation means that its story should not end with the former divisional organization.
Signals Intelligence Origins
The Army constituted the 311th Communication Reconnaissance Battalion headquarters in June 1954 and activated it at Fort Devens, Massachusetts. It became the 311th Army Security Agency Battalion in July 1956.
The lineage later incorporated other intelligence organizations. Some subordinate-company honors reach into World War II or Vietnam through those antecedents. Those inherited credits do not mean that the 311th existed under its later military intelligence title in each of those wars.
Service with the 101st Airborne Division
On June 1, 1982, the headquarters was reorganized as the 311th Military Intelligence Battalion, assigned to the 101st Airborne Division, and activated at Fort Campbell. The reorganization also brought the 265th Army Security Agency Company and 101st Military Intelligence Company into its company structure.
The battalion supported the division's intelligence mission during the later Cold War and Persian Gulf era. Its official campaign record includes the Defense of Saudi Arabia and Liberation and Defense of Kuwait.
The Japan Chapter
Army reporting records that the provisional 441st Military Intelligence Battalion in Japan was redesignated as the 311th MI Battalion in March 2018. The current INSCOM organizational page lists the 311th at Camp Zama, under the 500th Military Intelligence Brigade–Theater.
That assignment supports intelligence operations in the Indo-Pacific rather than recreating the old 101st divisional battalion. AAC's collection preserves the identity familiar to 101st veterans while acknowledging the battalion's later service under a different parent organization.
Historical Sources
- 311th Military Intelligence Battalion — Lineage and Honors. U.S. Army Center of Military History. The 1954 and ASA origins, 1982 divisional assignment, and company-specific honors.
- 500th MI Brigade–Theater: year in review. U.S. Army, January 7, 2019. Reports the March 2018 redesignation of the provisional Japan organization as 311th MI.
- 500th MI Brigade units. U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command. Current listing of 311th MI at Camp Zama and its Indo-Pacific intelligence role.
Airborne Apparel Company is proud to offer designs honoring the 311th Military Intelligence Battalion and its divisional intelligence heritage.